The Coyotes aren’t exactly the most spend-crazy team in the NHL, but when it comes to taking care of one of their own players, they’re doing their part to keep him happy and locked up in Phoenix.

No, we don’t mean Kyle Turris either.

The Coyotes signed top centerman Martin Hanzal to a five-year extension to make sure he doesn’t leave the warm confines of Jobing.com Arena for more than a while. John Shannon of SportsNet in Canada reports that the deal is worth $15.5 million over the five years, good for a nice and easy salary cap hit of $3.1 million over the course of the deal.

Over Hanzal’s career in Phoenix, he’s been a steady two-way center for them equally capable of playing strong offensively and defending against the opponents’ top centers. Last year Hanzal dealt with some injury troubles but when he was on the ice, he was playing his best hockey. Hanzal had 16 goals and 10 assists in 61 games last season, good for the best goal-scoring season of his career. The scoring numbers aren’t gaudy but Hanzal is the best center they have on the team at the moment.

With such a good deal signed, it makes us wonder what unsigned restricted free agent Kyle Turris thinks of all this. Turris has been in a dispute all offseason with the Coyotes over getting a new deal done and it’s a dispute where an end isn’t in sight. It’s rumored that Turris wants a monster money deal to stay in Phoenix which would be something GM Don Maloney and the cash-strapped Coyotes could not go along with.

While discussions are still ongoing, Turris’ demands or wont to get out of Phoenix (whatever the case may be) could help bring this situation to a head. Don’t count on the Coyotes blinking first though. Seeing what Hanzal came to an agreement on with Phoenix seems to be where the bar should be set for the as yet unproven Turris should ask for from Phoenix, but we all know that’s not always how these things work. Let’s just hope that Turris has a great offseason workout program because he’s going to abuse it while he waits on a new deal.

For now, the Coyotes are beyond ecstatic to get Hanzal locked up before becoming a restricted free agent after this season. Doing it while boosting their cap hit on him by just $1.3 million dollars (his hit is $1.8 million this year) is shrewd negotiating at its best.